I get lots of questions about what I use to blog and Instagram with. Everything from “Do you use your phone?” to “who host your blog?”. These programs, tools and sites are the blogging tools that I use daily and recommend. They keep me organized and focused on doing the right things to grow my blog.
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Photos/Editing
Canva– A free-to-use online graphics tool that combines design, photo editing and layouts to help you create beautiful projects. I use this for blog images, editing photos and making product collages.
LightRoom– Lightroom is from Adobe. It is a photo editing app. You can edit photos or put a preset on them.
InShot– Inshot is an app used to blend photos/videos together with different audios or transitions.
Equipment
Iphone-(no you do not need the newest phone on the market). I have an iPhone 12 Max Pro. I use this for all of my daily photo taking, emails.
iPad– I use my iPad for on the go blogging. I only have things that are related to work on this iPad.
Mouse– I love my bluetooth mouse. I love that I can use it with my desktop computer and with my iPad.
Planner/Agenda– Any planner will do. I have a planner for my “home” and then a planner for “work”. I try to keep things separated so that I am present at home and not picking up my work on off hours. (I am planning to come out with a planner that encompasses it all soon!)
Power Bank– Nothing is worse than going to take a photo and your phone dying. I love this power bank because it has ports for Apple and Samsung.
AirPods– Sometimes I reach for these, sometimes I reach for my headphones. I use them for on the go calls, calls that I take while my kids are home, and on the go listening to education modules.
Beats– I love my headphones. I am able to take calls, listen to podcasts and listing to education modules on the go!
Computer– I Have an iMac. I love the big screen, bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I use this daily for blogging, emailing, canva and photo editing.
Ring Light– I use this for all of my videos, photos etc.
Hosting
Host Gator– This is the hosting service I started with. Affordible low cost plans, helps you install WordPress and has great customer service!
Big Scoots– This is what I currently use to host my site. It is a bit more robust for when your blog picks up more traffic. It should host my site until the end of time.
Flodesk– I love the look of Flodesk. It is beautiful. Easy to use. It is easy to separate your subscribers into groups, check to see how many active subscribers you have. Hands down my favorite email tool. You can use my link https://flodesk.com/c/C23PSY for 50% off!
Convert Kit– This is a free email tool that is used by many bloggers.
Other Helpful Things I Use
Google Analytics– One of the most trusted tracking softwares in the world and its Free! See how many people are coming to your blog, where they are coming from, how long they stay and what they are looking at! Check out this post for help setting up google analytics on your blog! I found this page when I was learning and it helped me A LOT!
Optin Moster-I love their insights and their opt-in forms that actually convert! I love the “exit intent” option and how I can lead people to my social media channels.
Pinterest/Tailwind– Pinterest is a visual search engine. Tailwind is an automatic scheduling tool you can use to schedule out pins to your blog post.
Keysearch– This is my favorite keyword and keyword phrase search engine
ClickUp– The best productivity tool. It has calendars, tasks, due dates and more to keep you organized and on top of tasks!
Happy Blogging!